Newark Airport Gets Ready for 2014 Super Bowl

Fans in Times Square cheered the news in May when the 2014 Super Bowl was awarded to the New Meadowlands Stadium.

The big game is still nearly three years away and the immediate future of the National Football League is murky, but Newark International Airport is already making moves to prepare for the 2014 Super Bowl.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the hub, signed a deal to extend Signature Flight Support Corp.’s lease at the airport, allowing the company to handle private flights through August 2024. Signature agreed to invest $11 million before the Super Bowl for a new passenger terminal and ramp renovations.

The Port Authority’s board also approved a new lounge for Virgin Atlantic Airways, which will result in an 11-year deal under a new lease for a nearly 5,000-square-foot lounge for passengers at Terminal B. The airline also agreed to pay for an estimated $3.5 million worth of improvements to the lounge prior to the Super Bowl.

Virgin Atlantic’s new lounge is part of an expanded overhaul of Terminal B under the Port Authority’s ongoing $347.1 million project that will add a new level to the structure.

The New York Giants and Jets won a combined bid last May to host the the 2014 Super Bowl at the teams’ shared New Meadowlands Stadium. The game, a huge draw for corporate sponsors and celebrities, will be the first outdoors open-air Super Bowl in a cold-weather region.